These corridors at the approach of the Taj Mahal are typically Hindu.
They may be seen in any ancient Hindu capital. Note the two octagonal tower
cupolas at the right and left top. Only Hindus have special names for the eight
directions and celestial guards assigned to each. Any octagonal feature in
historic buildings should convince the visitor of their Hindu origin. Guards,
palanquin bearers and other attendants resided in hundreds of rooms along
numerous such corridors when the Taj Mahal was a Hindu temple palace. Thus the
Taj was more magnificent and majestic before it was reduced to a sombre Islamic
cemetery.

As stated at the beginning of this presentation, in case you did not read
it, the captions above
the Taj Mahal photos are kept the way they were found in the album, so the
style of English and the explanations are kept the same. I (Stephen Knapp) did not write these
captions, though many people think I did.